Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Pacific Island Countries. Data from Fiji, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands. Key results and lessons learnt

Description

The ability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to effectively manage water, sanitation, hygiene (WaSH) and waste management is constrained by their small size, geographical isolation and expansion, environmental fragility, small and predominantly rural, but rapidly urbanizing populations and limited human and financial resource bases. WaSH research, monitoring and global action are still lagging behind the necessary efforts to achieve health-promoting sustainable development. Fiji, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands, like other SIDS in the Pacific, are often not able to provide adequate WaSH services to their populations. Besides, these countries are facing significant challenges from a changing climate, and from increasing extreme weather events. Within the WaSH Sector Monitoring in Pacific Island Countries project, jointly conducted by UNICEF Pacific, the governments of Fiji, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands and The Water Institute at UNC, baseline and census data were collected from rural and urban households, schools and health care facilities between 2016 and 2019. Key findings on comparative urban-rural analyses of domestic WaSH, and WaSH in schools in the Solomon Islands, and on WaSH in health care facilities in Fiji and Kiribati will be presented, along with lessons learnt from our partnership. The outcomes of the project support WaSH monitoring, planning for the implementation of national WaSH strategies and policies, and create representative baselines for SDG 6 reporting.

Period	9 Oct 2019
Event title	UNC Water and Health: Where Science Meets Policy 2019
Event type	Conference
Location	Chapel Hill, United States, North Carolina
Degree of Recognition	International